Slayer Healing- How Does It Work

[CharmedSlayer85]

So I was wondering slayers are suppose to be these great healers, basically able to heal themselves at the same speed as a vampire, HOWEVER what about things like STDs or cancer? Can a slayer get HIV or lung cancer or can their bodies heal them away like a vampire? I think there are still a lot of aspects of a slayer's powers that are still unexplored. Being that the First Slayer was directly fused with the essence of a demon which of course made her the strongest and fastest (obviously Buffy wouldn't have needed to call upon her power if she wasn't the strongest) then is there a way that through extreme training could a slayer tap into that power without a spell? Can Buffy end up being as strong as Spiderman able to lift cars and dodge bullets almost like the Matrix? If she trained as an Olympic athlete trained how strong and fast could she ultimately become? Could she run as fast or faster than a dog, would she be 10 times as strong as those men in the World's Strongest Man competiton, cause a slayer is suppose to be stronger than any man on Earth. (And those are some strong bastards lol)

What about now, is Buffy stronger than those men in that competition? Cause I mean for the most part she never really fought any large muscular body builder type vampires.

[Rowan Hawthorn]

If she trained as an Olympic athlete trained how strong and fast could she ultimately become? Could she run as fast or faster than a dog, would she be 10 times as strong as those men in the World's Strongest Man competiton, cause a slayer is suppose to be stronger than any man on Earth. (And those are some strong bastards lol)

What about now, is Buffy stronger than those men in that competition? Cause I mean for the most part she never really fought any large muscular body builder type vampires.

See "Life Serial." I haven't seen any power-lifters who could grab a steel girder, toss it up on their shoulder, and take off without breaking a sweat the way Buffy did.

[nerd4hire]

She also bends steel bars, and rifle barrels.

On the STDs and Cancer thing, good question. I'd never even considered that.

On power increases there seems to be two lines of belief on that one. We have seen power increases. For example when she comes back from death in Prophecy Girl, or when she comes back from being skewered in Chosen. Some seem to think that's more a psychological boost of confidence, or something. Personally, I like to believe it's a physical increase in strength and power. Kind of a physical interpretation of "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger". I'm thinking maybe a slayer can connect to the "Heart of the Demon" in times of crisis for a power boost, and retain that extra power. In fact I sometimes wonder if vampires like Spike and Angel can't do something similar.

What did Buffy mean in # 11 when she told Satsu, you're not as fast as me now, but you will be.

[Rowan Hawthorn]

It's either an obscure hint, or a reference to the fact that Buffy is more powerful now than she's ever been - even Captain Cardboard commented on how she got stronger every day.

(Crap, hit the "post" button before I finished.)

Anyway, my assumption is that she means (whether or not she's correct in her assumption) that Satsu's power will also continue to grow.

[Ashxking]

For the most part a Slayer has never lived past 25 We are seeing Buffy is past that age now. What if being a slayer is like being Yoda. The older you get the stronger you get.

[CharmedSlayer85]

For the most part a Slayer has never lived past 25 We are seeing Buffy is past that age now. What if being a slayer is like being Yoda. The older you get the stronger you get.

Well if Season Eight is taken place a year after Chosen Buffy isn't yet 25 she's be about 24 right now. And if we take the older stories in the Tales of the Slayer book then Thesonnily (I spelt that wrong) lived to be 29 and was a slayer since she was 12 giving her 17 years in the slayer business, which is much longer than Buffy, however Buffy trained harder than any slayer in history which makes her the strongest (Except for the First Slayer)

But yeah I'm just wondering would Buffy have to worry about getting cancer or a brain tumor like her mother, or what if Riley had syphilis and she had unprotected sex with him would she get it too? I mean afterall a slayer is basically half demon half human

[Ashxking]

Did she ever get sick? I can't remember her getting a cold in 7 years of the show. If she demon healing odds are no mortal virus can hurt her.

[Spike Angelus]

What did Buffy mean in # 11 when she told Satsu, you're not as fast as me now, but you will be.

I took it as meaning that if Buffy dies, again, Satsu will be "next in command" and the scythe will giver her an extra boot of slayer power.

Edit:

Well if Season Eight is taken place a year after Chosen Buffy isn't yet 25 she's be about 24 right now. And if we take the older stories in the Tales of the Slayer book then Thesonnily (I spelt that wrong) lived to be 29 and was a slayer since she was 12 giving her 17 years in the slayer business, which is much longer than Buffy, however Buffy trained harder than any slayer in history which makes her the strongest (Except for the First Slayer)

But yeah I'm just wondering would Buffy have to worry about getting cancer or a brain tumor like her mother, or what if Riley had syphilis and she had unprotected sex with him would she get it too? I mean afterall a slayer is basically half demon half human


What about Nikki Wood? How old was she when Spike killed her? She had a son (Robin) and since she was the only slayer to have a child, could she have been the oldest slayer too?

[nerd4hire]

What about Nikki Wood? How old was she when Spike killed her? She had a son (Robin) and since she was the only slayer to have a child, could she have been the oldest slayer too?

Yeah for canon slayers, you'd think Nikki would be the oldest (she had a husband in the police force too), possibly followed by Faith, but there's so much unknown, like how did the Primal die. Thesonilly would be non-canon.

[Blondie Bear]

What about Nikki Wood? How old was she when Spike killed her? She had a son (Robin) and since she was the only slayer to have a child, could she have been the oldest slayer too?

We don't know that she was the only Slayer to have a child. She's just the only one we know of, because she's the only one Buffy knew of, who had a child. It's possible there were more.

[nerd4hire]

Nevertheless, I agree with Spike Angelus. Going by the canon information we have at this point in Buffyverse mythology, Nikki appears to be the oldest so far.

Can that change? Of course it can.

Nikki could have had the baby at 16, and married at 18, but that's not the impression one gets. In Nikki Goes Down from the canon, ToTS, comic she appears settled down in a conventional married with child middle class existence. In actual fact though, it's all very "who really know?", so one can just go by fanon impressions.

[Spike Angelus]

We don't know that she was the only Slayer to have a child. She's just the only one we know of, because she's the only one Buffy knew of, who had a child. It's possible there were more.

I'm just going by a throw away line Giles said in season 7, about no other Slayers having children, or words to that effect.

[Blondie Bear]

Can you find exactly where that is? I don't remember that line (which doesn't mean it isn't there, just means I don't remember it).

[white avenger]

Yeah for canon slayers, you'd think Nikki would be the oldest (she had a husband in the police force too), possibly followed by Faith, but there's so much unknown, like how did the Primal die. Thesonilly would be non-canon.


Where did the husband come from? I don't remember any mention of him, and if he were still alive, why didn't he raise Robin instead of her Watcher?

[Spike Angelus]

Can you find exactly where that is? I don't remember that line (which doesn't mean it isn't there, just means I don't remember it).

My season 7 DVDs are still sealed, but I'm pretty sure in in the episode where we find out Robin is Nikki's son. Can't remember the title. Maybe someone can double check for us?

[Allycat]

I always took Nikki's "my man" to mean he was her lover, not necessarily her husband. Also, is he Robin's father? No, right?

About that quote you mentioned Spike Angelus, the only thing I could find in the shooting script for First Date was this:

BUFFY
You're-- My god. I didn't know any Slayers had children.

WOOD
I don't know of any others. Anyway, she was killed when I was four. I remember her a little, but it's fuzzy, you know?

[white avenger]

I haven't read any of the "Tales of the Slayers/Vampire" stories. Are they all supposed to be canon, or are we just accepting them that way?

[nerd4hire]

I haven't read any of the "Tales of the Slayers/Vampire" stories. Are they all supposed to be canon, or are we just accepting them that way?

I find that an interesting question that perhaps requires a new thread. Generally though my impression is yes, in spite of never being specifically stated as such by Joss.

The general feeling seems to be if Joss blesses something by connecting the story to an official canon story it becomes canon. You could add Fray, and Tales of the Vampires to that list. It used to be you could get a good argument on whether or not ToTs was canon, then the ToTs slayers appeared in B-8 The Chain, and people started referring to it as canon without debate.

The policy of attaching canon status to connected stuff becomes a more interesting proposition when you start looking at IDW's Angel series, because Joss doesn't have the direct, hands on input there he does with the Dark Horse Buffy season 8. IDW is spinning a Spike series off their canon Angel series (The Angel one is canon, because Joss says it is). Does that make the upcoming Spike one canon as well? IDW editor Chris Ryall says it does, because he claims Whedon supports it. Is Chris Ryall the last word on Buffy canon though? I don't think so. And what about the previous non-canon Spike stories. Do they become canon now, because a character from them crossed over into A:AtF? I can't help thinking the whole idea of canon starts to look a little watered down when you do that. Nevertheless, I get the impression IDW thinks those are canon now too.

Somebody needs to ask Joss for the specific rules of Buffy/Angel canon, I think.

[Hero]

Why does everyone say the first slayer is the strongest? Did I miss something in the tv series or in the comic books?

[white avenger]

Why does everyone say the first slayer is the strongest? Did I miss something in the tv series or in the comic books?


Possibly because she is the Slayer directly connected to whatever demon the Shadow men used for the original creation, or possibly simply because she is the most savage fighter, or both.

[CharmedSlayer85]

I took it as meaning that if Buffy dies, again, Satsu will be "next in command" and the scythe will giver her an extra boot of slayer power.

Edit:




What about Nikki Wood? How old was she when Spike killed her? She had a son (Robin) and since she was the only slayer to have a child, could she have been the oldest slayer too?

Not really cause we don't know at what age Nikki Wood was called so she could've been a late slayer

Edit:

Why does everyone say the first slayer is the strongest? Did I miss something in the tv series or in the comic books?

Because if you look at Season Four, the only way Buffy could defeat Adam was by calling on the powers of the First Slayer and having Willow, Xander, and Giles join with her but the main spell was the First Slayer which is why she tried to kill them that same night.

[Black Eye Guy]

Because if you look at Season Four, the only way Buffy could defeat Adam was by calling on the powers of the First Slayer and having Willow, Xander, and Giles join with her but the main spell was the First Slayer which is why she tried to kill them that same night.

She didn't call on the power of the first slayer she called on all the slayers between the first and herself.

I would say it's down to general statistics for the slayer getting cancer, as it's rare enough (I know it's common but doesn't happen to everyone) so when you apply that to the potentials, and then to the 1 Slayer(pre chosen) the odds could take care of that.

It could also be that the girls are chosen as potentials because they won't get any diseases like Cancer.

It's also possible the demon in them will fight off any stronger diseases like an immune system.

IT would also be interesting to know how the slayer heals so fast, like is it a mystical thing, or does she have like a faster metabolism, cuz like if you get cut your body has to make new cells to heal it, and every time a cell regenerates it looses a small section which is how you age and eventually die, if slayers are doing that at an accelerated rate, they really are destined to a shorter life, even if they survive the demons!

[Hero]

I feel bad for taking the topic a little off topic, but someone answering my question made me think of another one. If Buffy channeled the first slayer or all the slayers before her, which slayer could turn things into birds? Didn't Adam fire a bullet at her or something and she turned it into doves?

[Spike Angelus]

I feel bad for taking the topic a little off topic, but someone answering my question made me think of another one. If Buffy channeled the first slayer or all the slayers before her, which slayer could turn things into birds? Didn't Adam fire a bullet at her or something and she turned it into doves?

Yeah, she did, but, I think it was the combined powere od all the past Slayers, not the power of just one.

[Joyce Summers]

I always thought the turning-into-birds thing was the power and knowledge she gathered from Giles and Willow as with all four of them being joined as one they shared that power. I didn't think that came from a Slayer.
The enjoining spell worked, I believe, by using Buffy's connection and strength from all the Slayers, Willow's Magick, Giles' knowledge of languages and spells, and Xander as well, the heart of it all.
So the bird thing and other such magickal occurances were due to Giles and Willow, not to the abilities of a past Slayer

[Spike Angelus]

Maybe a combo of both?